William Tyndale
Belgium
1536
“It would be wrong to translate God’s holy Word into English,” the Doctor of Divinity said sternly. “Only a language like Latin or Greek is able to fully convey God’s truth. English is a vulgar language – fine for plowmen and shopkeepers, but hardly suitable for the Bible.”
William Tyndale’s eyes blazed. He was a highly educated man, fluent in several languages, including Greek and Hebrew. “Not only can an accurate English translation be done, it should be done. The Scriptures of God are being hidden from the people’s eyes. The only way that poor people can read and see the simple, plain Word of God is if it is turned into their mother tongue, English.”
In the early 1500s, only scholars could read God’s Word. The only legal Bible was in Latin, which most of the common people could not understand. Since they could not read God’s Word for themselves, they had to rely upon what others told them it said.
It was illegal to own an English Bible or even memorize Scripture in English. In fact, in 1519, seven Christians were burned at the stake in Coventry, England, for teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English!
Before long, the two men were arguing heatedly. Tyndale quoted Scriptures; the doctor quoted man-made traditions and church rules. Finally, the Doctor of Divinity shouted, “It would be better to be without God’s laws than without the Pope’s.”
Tyndale courageously replied, “I defy the Pope and all his laws! In fact, if God spares my life, I intend to make it possible for a common farmer, a plowman, to know more of the Scripture than you do!”
Within a year or Tyndale’s conversation with the Doctor of Divinity, he decided it was no longer safe for him to stay in England, so he traveled to Germany. There he lived under an assumed name while he worked to finish his translation. When spies from England found him in Germany, he escaped to Belgium, where he printed thousands of his New Testaments.
In 1526, Tyndale’s English New Testament began trickling into England. The Scriptures, now referred to as the “pirate edition,” were made smaller than conventional books. This size was easer to smuggle into bales of cotton and containers of wheat being shipped into England.
As copies poured into England, they were eagerly bought and read by all sorts of ordinary people, who often sat up all night reading them or hearing them read. When the Bishop of London discovered the New Testaments, he bought as many as he could on the black market, paying full price for them. He declared, “I intend to burn and destroy them all.” The merchant who had smuggled them into England gave the money to Tyndale, who then printed three times as many in a revised version. The Bishop of London had unknowingly become Tyndale’s foremost financial supporter!
When Tyndale heard the Bibles were thrown into the fire, he said, “I expected they would burn the New Testaments. I expect they want to burn me too! This may yet happen, if it is God’s will. Even so, I know I did my duty in translating the New Testament.”
Within the next ten years, Tyndale’s New Testament was widely distributed throughout England. Bible truths were now available to everyone, and many people discovered they could have a personal relationship with God based on His Word. At the same time, anyone caught with this illegal book faced severe persecution. Prisons were overflowing and thousands of Christians were executed. Weekly, reports of the persecutions would come to Tyndale, who remained in exile in Europe and continued his translation of the Old Testament. Two of Tyndale’s close friends were burned at the stake. Even church officials, once persecutors, became martyrs after finding truth in Tyndale’s work.
In the spring of 1535, a man named Henry Phillips arrived in Antwerp, where Tyndale had been hiding. In hopes of a reward, Phillips took it on himself to betray Tyndale. He befriended Tyndale, noting that he was “simple and inexpert in the wily subtleties of this world.” Before Tyndale knew what was happening, Phillips had set an ambush for him.
Tyndale spent the next eighteen months in a prison near Brussels, Belgium. With the help of Miles Coverdale, he was able to complete part of the Old Testament. During his stay in prison, his powerful preaching and the sincerity of his life greatly influenced those around him. The jailer, the jailer’s daughter, and the others of his household accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.
On October 6, 15365, Tyndale was taken from his dungeon and strangled. Then his body was burned. His last words were a fervent prayer: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”
God honored Tyndale’s prayer. Within three years, the King of England gave instructions that a copy of the “Great Bible” completed by Tyndale’s co-worker, Coverdale, including Tyndale’s New Testament to be placed in every church in England!
Tyndale’s translation was so accurate that 75 years later, when the King James Version of the Bible was published, it was based largely upon Tyndale’s work. In fact, about 90 percent of the words remain exactly as he wrote them!
Many people today don’t know that countless martyrs shed their blood to make God’s Word available in English. Having the Scriptures available in the language of the common people challenged the established church to return to its scriptural origins and to rediscover the truth and power of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
What if these courageous men and women had not taken a stand for making God’s Word available to everyone? Would we be Christians today?
-Taken from Jesus Freaks by dc Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs